Selections: Eli Keszler

Eli Keszler’s strand of electronic music is difficult to classify, but easy to love. Since 2008, the Massachusetts-born musician, composer and producer has been perfecting a rich, avant-garde sound that subsumes elements of experimental electronica, jazz and time-stretching ambient. His eleventh record – and first for UK tastemaker label LUCKYME® –  landed earlier this month, and takes in twelve grand, percussive creations. It’s Keszler at his most commanding, sidling between moments of gritty propulsion and gut-wrenching ambience. “I aimed to take a feeling and let the music move freely across mediums, materials, and genres,” he explained. “Allowing it to go wherever it wanted while staying out of its way, gently guiding the process.”

The self-titled release is also Keszler at his most collaborative, featuring guest appearances from singer Sofie Royer and saxophonist Sam Gendel, who helped him to conjure what he describes as a “reverent, almost religious feeling”. On ‘Speak For Me’, which rounds out the A-side, sparse, cloaked synths melt into whispering vocals and dubbed-out textures, ahead of the dark and wobbly ‘Sun’, and stirring ‘Drip Drip Drip’, inspired by Keszler’s father’s last words. The project follows previous albums, ‘Icons’ (2021) , inspired by the frenetic metropolis of New York, and ‘Stadiums’ (2018), composed following the artist’s landmark world tour with Oneohtrix Point Never. More recent collaborations include an impromptu feature on Skrillex’s 2023 LP, ‘Quest for Fire’, which saw Keszler’s haunting, drum flourishes paired with detonating drops, and a slew of live dates with US leftfield trailblazer, Laurel Halo.

To celebrate the release of his new self-titled, Eli Keszler spotlights a selection of record bag mainstays, from flickering ambient and experimental oddities, to improvisational jazz, dub and more. Dive in below.